Thaiday found guilty of handling referee

Sam Thaiday was found guilty of handling referee Adam Devcich and will miss the match against the Titans.

Getty Images: Bradley Kanaris

Broncos captain Sam Thaiday has been found guilty of handling referee Adam Devcich and will miss his team's clash against the Titans on Friday night.

Thaiday fronted the NRL judiciary in Sydney on Wednesday night charged with contrary conduct for grabbing Devcich's shirt in Brisbane's loss to Melbourne last Friday.

The Broncos' legal team unsuccessfully argued that Thaiday was merely demonstrating how he was grabbed by Melbourne opponent Bryan Norrie when trying to exit a scrum to stop Billy Slater running away for a try.

The judiciary panel took less than two minutes to uphold the charge.

The Queensland Origin forward said he had a fair hearing and accepts the judiciary's decision.

"At no stage did I want to be a bad sportsman," Thaiday said after the hearing.

"I accept my penalty and go back to Brisbane to support my team 100 per cent against the Titans."

Thaiday argued he had not acted contrary to the spirit of the game by making contact, but admitted he did not have to touch the referee to make his point.

His defence counsel Peter Shields said Thaiday should have never been placed in the position where he was remonstrating with the referee because the try should not have been awarded.

Shields provided evidence in the form of a radio interview from NRL referees boss Daniel Anderson saying Thaiday had not acted outside the spirit of the game.

Thaiday explained why he had grabbed the shirt of Devcich but said he never touched his body.

"I was trying to get an explanation out of the referee as to whether we could pull shirts," Thaiday said.

"It was a pinch to me. It's very hard to do anything with a mouthguard in your hand."